Trump admin and DOGE unlawfully refusing to comply with public records requests despite vow of 'maximum transparency,'

Source: Law & Crime

Feb 21st, 2025, 10:42 am


The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been operating “in the shadows,” wielding unconstitutional authority across multiple agencies while providing the public with “no meaningful transparency” and failing to keep proper records, according to a new lawsuit from a nonprofit government watchdog group.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) accused DOGE of unlawfully refusing to comply with its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for records associated with the government group’s actions and ignored repeated demands for DOGE to preserve its records under the Federal Records Act.

CREW has requested records and documents related to communications between Office of Management and Budget (OMB) staffers and individuals who were affiliated with DOGE prior to Trump’s inauguration, changes to the operations of the U.S. Digital Service, organizational charts and financial disclosures, and DOGE’s communications with federal agencies, which DOGE and the other plaintiffs have so far failed to turn over.

The filing requests that a federal judge order OMB and DOGE — as well as their leaders — to promptly disclose the requested records, to preserve all records until the court decides the case, and to initiate enforcement action to recover any lost records.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/the-entity-has-worked-in-the-shadows-trump-admin-and-doge-unlawfully-refusing-to-comply-with-public-records-requests-despite-vow-of-maximum-transparency-lawsuit-claims/